Conventionally, a document information reading apparatus such as a scanner, and an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine and a multi-function printer are provided respectively with a sheet conveying apparatus for conveying a sheet to an information reading portion or an image forming portion. The information reading portion is a part provided with a sensor such as an image sensor that reads image information on the sheet or a sensor that reads magnetic information of the sheet. The image forming portion is a part that forms an image on the sheet by an ink dot type apparatus, an electro-photographic type apparatus, an electrostatic recording type apparatus, or the like. The sheet conveying apparatus includes a tray on which a sheet is stacked and a feed roller disposed so as to face the tray and configured to feed the sheet on the tray into the apparatus.
In order to convey the sheet as described above, it is necessary to nip the sheet by an intermediate plate (sheet receiving member) which is a part of the tray and the feed roller. To that end, the sheet conveying apparatus is provided with a spring that biases the rotatably supported intermediate plate toward the feed roller to nip the sheet between the intermediate plate and the feed roller by a bias force of the spring for example. The sheet conveying apparatus is also provided with a separation roller for separating a sheet one by one from a bundle of sheets at a location facing the feed roller downstream in a sheet conveying direction of the intermediate plate. The separation roller rotates in a direction opposite from that of the feed roller and moves the sheet in a direction opposite from the sheet conveying direction (see Patent Literature 1).